her infant offspring. And such was his anxiety ahout them, that he could scarcely endure his existence, till he was assured of their spiritual welfare ; and he was as willing to lay down his life for them, as a mother was to draw forth the breast to her sucking child r. Now such is the love that we should all aspire after : for nothing short of this is required of us by Almighty Gods.]
2. Let us entreat God to work it in us —
[" Love is of God1 :" nor can any but God create it in the heart. We may attempt to stir up in others this heavenly flame, but we shall never succeed, till God himself shall send down fire from above, and create the vital spark in the soul. Solomon justly observes, that " if a man would give all the substance of his house for love it would be utterly contemned11." We may labour and toil to the uttermost ; but our efforts will only be like those of the Disciples, when they strove in vain to row their ship to shore, till Jesus entered into their vessel ; and then they were immediately at the land whither they wished to gox. In many cases, the "more abundantly we endeavour to testify our love, the less we shall be loved y;" yea, we shall only be " casting our pearls before swine, that will turn again and rend usz." But God can in one moment kindle the sacred flame, even in the soul that has indulged the most inveterate malignity. Behold the jailor : one hour he executed his commission against Paul and Silas with savage and needless cruelty ; the next, he washed their stripes with all imaginable tenderness and lovea. Let us cry then to him for the gracious influences of his Spirit, to create us anew, and to form and fashion us after his blessed image.]
3. Let us be stirred up to this especially from the
consideration before us —
[Shortly is the Lord Jesus Christ coming with all his glorified saints to judge the world : and then will an inquiry be instituted, not after this or that particular grace, but after universal holiness. This consideration surely ought to weigh with us, and to make us thoroughly in earnest in the pursuit of love. Many grounds of confidence we may appear to have ; but they will all fail us in that awful day : "Our knowledge may be so extensive, as to embrace all the mysteries of religion; our faith so strong, as to remove mountains ; our liberality so great, as to give all our goods to feed the poor ; and our zeal so ardent, as to give our bodies to be burned ; — and yet, for
r 1 Thess. ii. 7, 8, 11. and iii. 1," 5, 6, 7. s 1 John iii. 1G.
t 1 John iv. 7. u Cant. viii. 7. x John vi. 18—21.
y 2 Cor. xii. 15. z Matt. v;i. 6. a Acts xvi. 24, 33.